a cup filled halfway with water. so it is half-empty or half-full?

i like this quote. it brings out a really nice point about people's perception about things, that is people look at things differently, comprehend differently, conclude differently.

as a tutor, one of the most commonly discussed topic was about grades. interestingly, while some mothers will be very happy if their child can score 70 and above, some are not satisfied even if their child managed to bring home a 70. to the first type of mothers, they are glad that their child can achieve that 70% but for the other type of mothers, they are disappointed that their child cannot achieve that balance 30%.

thats perceptions.

very often while we are busy in pursue of our material needs, we are lost in the world of perceptions. we are in continuous pursue of a higher position, a fatter paycheck, a better environment, all that because we feel that "we still lack of that 30%" and not realising that "we actually had that 70% already".

is the 30% really that important such that we are still unhappy with the 70% we had?

so what is more important: what we had achieved or what we are unable to achieve?